“The ECB under Draghi has already been acting quite aggressively, but there have been some issues such as the central bank's inability to directly offer funding for individual banks, such as Spanish banks,” Azumi said.

“From that perspective, I would like to welcome (the remarks) if he means to provide more aggressive direct support,” he told reporters.

Later in the day eyes will be on the United States, which is due to release second-quarter economic growth data, with dealers looking for signs for a fresh round of stimulus by the Federal Reserve.

The dollar was mostly lower against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It fell to Sg$1.2517 from Sg$1.2563 on Thursday, to 55.56 Indian rupees from 56.08 rupees, to 1,139.68 South Korean won from 1,147.25 won, and to Tw$30.08 from Tw$30.15.

The greenback also fell to 41.93 Philippine pesos from 42.12 pesos and to 31.59 Thai baht from 31.69 baht while edging up to 9,485.00 Indonesian rupiah from 9,484.00 rupiah

The Australian dollar rose to $1.0416 from $1.0318 while the Chinese yuan was at 12.24 yen against 12.23 yen.